The Labor enquirer., 1887-05-07
4 THINKER,
\ Letter coneernins the
Lights Of Liberty
and
fHR SHADOWS Or DEP0qgI,
|wsrls that Fathon Prefuadity and
Scale the Lofty Peaks sf
Precedence.

past by writer's dating from the four cor
ners of the country, is in itself mark of
the progress which the movement has
made since the ENQuIRxl first hoisted the
scarlet flag some Ave years ago. Before
me lies one Of the few books We possess
descriptive of the Russian movement, and
as turn over its pages, passing, from the
first.despairing efforts Of a few enthusias-
tic Socialists in st. Petersburg to form
scattered student groups, to . perusal Of
the network Of organization which is rap
idly enclosing the whole country in its
meshes, can trace the same evolution
which it has taken us, under more favored
circumstances, but five years to pass
through. At first eager endeavors to con-
vince whatever few readers We may have
had that our principles are neither those of
savages or madmen; then step taken
with drmer foot, the writer being no longer
pver-anxious to prove the sincerity and
reasonableness OF his ideals, but concern
ing himself more closely with how they
may be put into practice; finally column
after column filed with accounts of action
already taken, with criticism Of such ac-
tion, and with suggestions for future &C.
tion. The philosophical discussions which
during the last two years have occupied so
much of the papers space have evidently
all been penned by writer's having "action"
in view; the contest between the individ-
ualists and the Qollectivists is really but a
contest between parties, each Of whom is
anxious TO overthrow the present system,
but who differ as to whether men fight
better under leade rship, or as free lances;
while the articles upon the relation of re-
ligion,-and the Catholic church in par
ticular.-to the labor movement, have been
as evidently the work of those who are
anxious to determine whether we are to
count upon the church as friend or foe in
the coming struggle. In short the ENou1-
RER, like other papers, has moved with the
times, and in its columns are mirrOred
alike the Consciousness of future action,
and the conviction that the action will
move upon far larger plane than we an
ticipated in our salad days.
We have no longer to consider the pos
sibility> Of setting force in motion; we
have,no to deal with a force let loose
and running riot, ready to be gathered up
|by a master hand, concentrated and
hurled irresistibly at the vested interests
that bar the path of progress. Strikes,
boycotts, lock-outs; Pinkertonism, the
Chicago bomb, the $4,000 votes polled in
New York by Henry George; these, and
innumersble other agencies, have con-
tributed to a victory which is half the bat
tle-the country is awake. From Social
Purity clubs to the EXTREMIST forms of
Socialism, all reforms have this in com
mon, that the hand of vested interests is
raised against them; and they are to-day
all ON the war-path against vested inter-
ests. The agitation raised against, in its
discomfort, by one school of reformers,
innoculates every other school with more
intense longing for change; and prohi-
bitionists, female suffragists, free traders,
and salvationists, as well as Socialists, are
to-day active as they have never been be-
fore. The hearts of the mass of these peo-
pie are sound; they are, with US, disgusted
at the conditions they see around them;
they are eager for a change; they have
ideals, and they will make and are making
sacrifices In money, in p pularity, in the
devotion Of time and labor-to realize
their ideals; they are of us, though as yet
they stand outside our gates. Their
hearts ar right enough, the matter is
with their heads.
Moreover these people are invaluable to
us in many ways. They not only feel, they
can do effective work. They can talk and
talk well; they can write and write well;
they can organize and organize we'll. They
are disciplined troops ready to our hand
fanatics, ready to go to any length, pro.
vided onl, you convince them that yours
is the path that must be trodden, the en-
emy that you point out the one who must
be trampled to death at any cost. You
have merely to convince them, that is to
show them things from your point Of view
1t is far easier to convert the head alone,
than both heart and head.
In primitive society every man is bound
to be jack Of all trades; as society pro
gresses division of labor becomes the rule
and the greater the division the greater
the results. The labor movement is like
any other social organization. 1t is nc
longer desirable, and it is rapidly becom
ing impossible for the editor of the labol
u vi hs H. - ter, correspondent, lecture
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